


Trust and Stay

by Cosmic_Firestorm



Series: Eyes Turned Skyward (The Flying Fish Series) [5]
Category: DCU, Green Lantern - All Media Types, Green Lantern: The Animated Series
Genre: Accidental Bonding, Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Bittersweet, Boundaries, Confusion, Established Relationship, Explanations, F/M, Falling In Love, Flirting, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Getting to Know Each Other, Homesickness, Interspecies Romance, Mental Link, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Repression, Singing, Sunsets, Telepathy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-06
Updated: 2017-01-06
Packaged: 2018-09-15 08:10:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9226109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cosmic_Firestorm/pseuds/Cosmic_Firestorm
Summary: Hallie Jordan and Tomar-Re are forced to explore a few facets of homesickness, but something beautifully sweet may emerge from the ashes of the bitterness.





	

“Okay, I know I’ve done my best to introduce you to human romance, Tomar-Re, but you actually came out to watch the sunset? We’ve seen it every day since we got to Oa for rookie training and you’ve been here longer than I have,” Hallie commented as she looked her boyfriend up and down. He was standing on the edge of his quarters’ terrace, his pose unwound into something less militaristic than usual, more contemplative. This was more the scientist in him than the Green Lantern Honor Guard and even the scientist was comfortable.

“I used to watch Xudar’s sun set,” he replied. “I saw it every day, since the day I was born, and every day it still seemed new to me.”

Hallie nodded thoughtfully, taking note of the change in his tone and then moving forward. “Y’know, something else I’ve seen since I got to Oa, which I’m just now learning to appreciate…?” She laughed lightly, running a hand between his wings and down his back. “How slick this uniform is on you.” It may have been the trick of the light dappling on his golden skin, but she could have sworn he blushed and oh, yes, she _liked_ that and told him as much.

“You’re correct; it’s simply a trick of the light,” he informed her promptly, not quite meeting her eyes, and she rolled her eyes, hugging his arm.

“You miss it, don’t you?” she probed carefully after a few minutes. He clicked quizzically and she glanced up at him. “Your home planet. You’ve been talking about it more often.” Her thoughts went back to his long-ago words that Sector 2813 was “devoid of life.”

“Indeed. And do you miss your planet, Hallie Jordan?”

It was funny how he always managed to turn the conversation back to her, Hallie mused, her hands tightening on his arm, comforting as best she could without receiving an explanation “Yeah, I do…but I’m glad to be here with you.”

Tomar gave her a shy smile, one of those cute, subtle Xudarian smiles that only showed around his eyes instead of his beak, and she returned it, leaning her head against his. As soon as she did, she felt a rush of overwhelming warmth spread from him to her. It was unusual because he was so naturally cool, but she didn’t pay that thought any attention. She felt almost giddy with the sensation, but it ended quite suddenly as Tomar-Re flinched and recoiled, trying to get as far away from her as possible.

“Wh-What was that?” Hallie demanded. Tomar-Re didn’t acknowledge that she had spoken, nearly flinging himself back toward the door of his quarters, but she quickly grabbed his forearm to stop him, the material of his uniform between her skin and his. “What did you do? Don’t leave, just tell me,” she ordered.

“I apologize,” he muttered.

“For what? What was it?”

“I…I was relaxed, and I had a lapse in control.”

‘Control of what exactly?”

Tomar-Re shook his head slightly and then lowered it. When he spoke, his throat was audibly tight. “My people are telepathic. On Xudar, it was common for telepathy to be in constant use. I wasn’t exempt, but when I joined the Corps, I discovered that other races most often found it too invasive.”

“How long has it been since you…?” Hallie trailed off, trying to digest this new information.

“Nearly two Oan decades.” Tomar-Re glanced at her, shifting disconcertedly. “What I just did was wrong, even if it wasn’t intentional. It isn’t supposed to happen. Again, I apologize.”

“You don’t have to. It was just—” Hallie shrugged impulsively. “—different. I don’t mind.”

“You should. It’s not only about happiness. It’s also about sadness and anger, intimately deep. I don’t want you to feel any of this.”

“I still don’t mind.”

“Hallie—”

“Did it go two ways? Did you feel what I felt?” she interrupted him. He hesitated for several seconds before lowering his voice.

“Yes.”

Despite herself, Hallie felt a smile pulling at her lips. “Did you like it?”

“It was wrong—”

“That’s not an answer. You said that it’s been a while, so did you like how it felt?” The smile finally made its debut. “I sure did. I wouldn’t mind you doing it again.”

He flinched again, this time out of surprise. “I shouldn’t take the risk that it would hurt you. It could do irreparable damage, damage you couldn’t understand.”

Hallie raised an eyebrow at him. “Hey, I may not be a scientist, but it’s not like I’m stupid.”

“That wasn’t what I was implying,” Tomar sighed. “I simply know what I could do if I was careless.”

“I’ve _never_ seen you be careless.” Hallie found his other wrist in her free hand, pulling on them until she was close enouth to almost press against his chest. “C’mon, Tomar…It must have been hard for you, keeping it all bottled up for so long. We both know you want to.” Under any other circumstance, with any other alien, these words, whispered from Hallie Jordan’s lips, just might have been foreplay, but it wasn’t the same. She knew Tomar-Re well enough now to know that his range of emotion was vast, hiding somewhere in his eyes, and right now all she saw was pained longing.

“Hallie Jordan. Sharing a mind is…intimate, as I said. It isn’t for the faint of heart and it isn’t for a Xudarian to share unless the other participant intends to…” He paused, searching for the right word.

Hallie searched too, trying to read him. “What?”

“…stay,” he breathed at last, tremulous.

With all that that implied, Hallie realized. “I wouldn't be a Green Lantern if I was faint of heart and I don’t think I’m going anywhere,” she murmured at last. “Trust me.”

Tomar-Re was quiet, tense and still for what felt like an exceedingly long time before very gradually lifting his hands. Hallie shivered a little under his cool skin as long fingers slid over her neck to nestle into her hair, cradle her head.

It started as a mild ache, blooming just behind her ears and then spreading, sweeping forward to cover her eyes. Gradually, the pain receded into a strange, tingling sensation that was not unlike the pins-and-needles of a sleeping limb, only this was her brain.  That faded to the background but never quite left, leading her into hazy darkness and then…It felt like someone was hugging her mind.

Hallie’s breath caught as the Xudarian drowned her in warmth she wasn’t prepared for. The moments of their lives were floating all around and inside her in waves. She could see glimpses, just some little moments she couldn’t hold on to; they were all passing so quickly. She could see all the little touches they had made, the contact they had shared.

Somewhere through it all, she sensed his hands tightening on her, steadying her through it.

She heard the most wonderful sound then, like birdsong and whale song, smoothed into something fresh and cool and clean, beautifully alien. Behind it there were hints of his home, of shining days and peaceful nights, and the song mourned for it at the same time it rejoiced in it. She had never heard or seen anything like it before, but it felt like an old friend. It felt like him.

It _was_ him and in that warm, close moment, Hallie loved it. She loved—

Tomar reeled back when he sensed this half-formed thought, the vibrations in the back of her mind becoming more prominent, more anxious, and she tried to stay calm by example. Thus far, she had done her best not to force him into anything if she wasn’t wanted, but then he hesitated. Hallie held perfectly still, both mentally and physically, not even breathing while she waited for him to make a decision. After a moment she got a distant impression of a sigh and he relaxed into her.

Relieved, she reached out, held him, lent whatever wordless support she could.  She didn’t know what exactly was going on (she could guess though, because there had distinctly been sorrow under the fear and disbelief, the same sorrow she had heard during his song), but she tried to be there as best she could. For now, it was enough.


End file.
